playing his part
David Beckham turned down chance to jump ahead of queue for Queen – instead patiently waiting for over THIRTEEN hours
DAVID Beckham turned down the chance to jump the huge queues in London today to file past the coffin of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The former footballer, 47, instead opted to wait patiently with the tens of thousands of people snaking towards Westminster Hall – for 13 hours.
3
3
A source said: “David was offered a queue jump hall pass - and the opportunity to go in with an MP - but turned it down to queue.
“He’s got there at 2am and felt it was really important to be alongside everyone else for such a moving moment.”
It comes after a number of MPs were criticised for skipping the queue this week.
David was seen wearing a dark flat cap, suit and tie as he waited in line to pay his respects.
"This day was always going to be a difficult day," he told Sky News. "Our thoughts are with the family -- it's very special to hear all of the stories from people here.
Read More on The Queen
"The most special moment for me was to receive my OBE (Order of the British Empire honour from the queen, which he received in 2003). I took my grandparents with me who were huge royalists.
"I was so lucky that I was able to have a few moments like that in my life to be around Her Majesty. It's a sad day, but a day to remember."
David said he had turned up to queue in the early hours, hoping to dodge the main rush but had been thwarted in his plan.
"I thought by coming at 2:00 am it was going to be a little bit quieter -- I was wrong," he told ITV News.
Most read in Celebrity
The former footballer said every time the national anthem had been played at England matches was special.
"Every time that we stood there when we wore those Three Lion shirts and I had my armband and we sang God Save Our Queen, that was something that meant so much to us," he told ITV.
Elizabeth's death has triggered an outpouring of emotion across the nation, with people queueing for hours, many through the night, to pay their respects to the late monarch, who died last week.
The queue was temporarily paused on Friday after a park at the end of the line along the River Thames reached capacity, the government said.
At Westminster Abbey on Monday morning, the queen will be honoured with Britain's first state funeral in nearly six decades, with more than 2,000 guests expected.
3
Topics